Vincenzo Nibali and Fabio Aru together in Dubai(Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
Vincenzo Nibali (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Fabio Aru (Astana)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Michele Scarponi smiles for the camera(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Diego Rosa and Eddy Merckx(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Michele Scarponi and Jakob Fuglsang(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Ruslan Tleubayev (Astana)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Alessandro Vanotti has some fun with Dubai archtecture(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Alexander Vinokourov(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Alexander Vinokourov, sponsor Kaletayev Darkhan and Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Alexander Vinokourov(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Only management gets a seat at the dessert table(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The 2015 Astana team is presented in Dubai(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Tour champion Vincenzo Nibali and his Astana team(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Eddy Merckx with Astana director Stefano Zanini(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The 2015 Astana team(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The 2015 Astana team(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Traditional entertainment at the Astana presentation(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
All dressed up, the 2015 Astana team(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The Astana riders await the show(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Dario Cataldo is introduced(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Stefano Zanini helps Davide Malacarne with his double windsor(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Stefano Zanini and Giuseppe Martinelli(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Alexander Vinokourov presents the 2015 Astana team in Dubai(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Team manager Alexander Vinokourov and sponsor Kaletayev Darkhan of Samruk Kazyna today presented the 2015 Astana Pro Team in Dubai, where the Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali will line up for his first race of the season at the Dubai Tour later this week.
The team brought in 11 new riders this season, with Dutchman Lars Boom a likely candidate for the overall victory in the Dubai Tour. Also joining were Dario Cataldo from Sky, Davide Malacarne (Europcar), Diego Rosa (Androni), Luis Leon Sanchez (Caja Rural), Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis), Laurens De Vreese (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) and young Kazakhstani riders Maxat Ayazbayev and Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev.
Astana is under close scrutiny by the UCI this season after last year having the doping cases of brothers Maxim and Valentin Iglinskiy as well as a number of its riders on the Continental team, but Vinokourov and his team have agreed to adhere to additional regulations for the season. "We are committed to a clean sport and the start has been made by setting up laboratories in Kazakhstan along with Memorandum of Understanding with various bodies," Vinokourov said according to Gulf News. "In addition, we are educating young riders and at the same time we implement tough tests on the domestic circuit. Honestly, nobody wins in a doping scandal. At Astana, we have won honestly and we want to win honestly in the future as well."
View the full gallery from the team presentation here.
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